


Terminal Velocity

by sublimeWaves



Series: 25 EXO Challenges [5]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Airports, Cheating, M/M, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 11:25:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7220437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sublimeWaves/pseuds/sublimeWaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started a year and half ago when Baekhyun noticed an incredibly attractive man passing by his store at five thirty in the morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Terminal Velocity

**Author's Note:**

> Emotion: Venomous  
> Word: Heartbreak  
> Theme: Pattern

He looks just like every other time Baekhyun has seen him pass the small store.  Impeccably dressed, suit crisp and altered perfectly to fit his tall broad frame.  He walks with confidence, like there is meaning in every stride made.  When dressed for work he doesn’t have a hair out of place or scuffed shoes.  At home his hair is fluffed out and his favorite sneakers has a layer of gravel dust on them.  Baekhyun knows this.

It started a year and half ago when Baekhyun noticed an incredibly attractive man passing by his store at 5:30 in the morning.  His store, worked hard to own, that he was located right next to Gate 19 at the airport that was already busy with passengers in the early hours of the day.  Baekhyun’s shop primarily sold books for but had some snacks.  Coffee was added to the menu so to catch the early air traffic passengers since the Starbucks across the way didn’t open until 6:00 and the lazy teenage worker didn’t start until 6:15.

Baekhyun saw a lot of attractive people in his office, but this one he was seeing around six times a week at about 5:40 and 16:40 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Each of those days he would enter the shop and ask for a simple coffee, black, in a deep, rich voice.  Non busy times had left Baekhyun admiring the man as he walked away and saw that his flight was at Gate 19.  It was more common than people thought for business flyers to take trips multiple times a week.

What made the man stand out was his gorgeous smile when he ordered his early morning coffee.  There was also the rest of his looks which fulfilled Baekhyun’s superficial values but Baekhyun was trying to look past that.  The man’s face was a bit boyish, but he was very tall which he favored.  His smile took up a good portion of his face and was blindingly bright.

The first encounter with the stranger’s smile had left Baekhyun staring and almost dropping the cup of coffee in his hand.  He gained his composure fast and put on his professionally practiced customer service smile.  The encounter made Baekhyun pay way more attention at 5:40 and 16:40 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday then he was already obsessed with.

The two started to talk which means to say that Baekhyun was pointing out the smallest detail so that they could.  The stranger, _Chanyeol_ , was incredibly funny even at 5:45 in the morning.  Baekhyun, not a morning person, was jealous as he built the image of Chanyeol farther up in his mind during the long work days.

It wasn’t until two months later when he was trying to “casually” ask Jongdae, Gate agent for Gate 28 at the same airline as Gate 19 and best friend, about Gate 19.

“6:05 flight going out and 16:24 flight coming in.”  Jongdae says looking through his computer.  Jongdae’s been bored all day and was ready to sign off work and go home.  “Place isn’t even a full hour away.  Why did you need this?”

“Someone at the shop asked.”  Which is a valid lie.  The amount of clueless travelers looking to him as the airport’s help desk is astounding.  There was now a sign outside his door pointing to the bathrooms next door to avoid those questions and sometimes he _still_ gets them like he is some airport genie.

It’s a week later on Friday when Jongdae is getting his coffee fix early one morning before his shift for the 8:07 to Tokyo starts that the handsome stranger walks in.  One look at Baekhyun confirms all that he needs to know and also the fact that the stranger remembers Baekhyun’s name.  He hasn’t seen Baekhyun have such a twinkle in his eye for a while.

The two naturally gravitated towards each other, Baekhyun leaning forward and the ridiculously beautiful stranger leaning towards him.   Their fingers brush when exchanging coffee and Jongdae feels like he is in some B roll chick flick.  Baekhyun turns red when he turns to see the grin plastered on Jongdae’s face.

“His name is Chanyeol.”  Baekhyun says in response when Chanyeol is gone.

Sometimes Chanyeol will bring his coworker, Kyungsoo, along.  Apparently, Chanyeol is the manager of a branch of their insurance company and he works for in the city over but lives here at headquarters where Kyungsoo works.  The man is very short, emphasized next to Chanyeol, and has the cutest round eyes.

The first time Kyungsoo comes to the airport he takes a look at Baekhyun and turns to Chanyeol.  “Is this him?”

Chanyeol laughs nervously but Beakhyun pretends to organize the cash register so to think he didn’t hear.  His chest fills with giddiness that threatens to burst out.  There was also the fact that his face was staring to burn red and that couldn’t be that attractive on him.

It’s 16:40 on a Friday three months after their first encounter that Chanyeol asks him to dinner that night.  He doesn’t say no.  They meet at a really fancy restaurant that only has valet parking and Baekhyun walks five blocks to a parking garage to avoid it.

Their first date went well.  It wasn’t amazing but Baekhyun was too stressed out over the fancy attire and environment to truly be comfortable.  Dinner was more than Baekhyun spent on food for the past six weeks combined, but luckily his date payed.  Chanyeol looked right at home.  They had kissed, chastely, before they parted.

The morning routines changed.  Now, Baekhyun would smile as Chanyeol would walk in.  Chanyeol smiled a lot more, too.  Sometimes, if there were not too many people, they would briefly kiss as they talked about everything and nothing.  It was still Baekhyun’s work so all conversation and personal contact was tasteful.  The dates increased, but no longer at fancy places.  Chanyeol wasn’t dumb, at least majorly, and had seen Baekhyun’s uncomfortable face while at the fancy restaurant.  They did different things from going to the movies and going to cheaper places for dinner, sometimes drinks.

A couple weeks passed like this until they were just at the airport bar on a Wednesday after Baekhyun had closed up for the day.  Chanyeol was offered free drinks at the airport bar since he is such a frequent flier on the airline he uses.  It was pretty late as the last of the flights were leaving and arriving, so the two were some of the only ones at the bar.

Baekhyun drank more than he should have, he knew he should have stopped.  He needed to drive home later on.  At least he had already texted his part time employee to open up the store the next morning.  Chanyeol just had what seemed like a never-ending supply of drink tickets and Baekhyun just can’t say no to free drinks.

Slumping over the counter a couple hours later prompts Chanyeol to call a cab to pick them up and before Baekhyun can say anything he is being driven to Chanyeol’s house.  He was going to give his address to the taxi driver but Chanyeol was talking him up and he promptly forgot as he stepped out of the vehicle with his partner.

Just looking at the grand house sobered Baekhyun up substantially.  Baekhyun himself lived in a very modest one bedroom apartment and here Chanyeol lived in a mansion.  The entry way alone was the size of Baekhyun’s apartment.

As Baekhyun marveled at the interior while Chanyeol shut and locked the front door, he could already feel his inadequacy.  He didn’t belong here. 

Chanyeol putting an arm around his waist and pulling him close makes him forget where he is for a bit.  He tries to drown the feelings out and focus on Chanyeol’s lips as they slide against his own.  It works as he tries to clear his mind.

Him realizing the height difference makes kissing a bit difficult and laughing helps a lot.

There was also the realization that Chanyeol planned on sleeping with Baekhyun which through Baekhyun’s hazy mind didn’t realize until his partner, boyfriend, was tugging at him.  Baekhyun was not naïve but the alcohol always did funny things to his head.  It wasn’t like he was going to say no to sleeping with Chanyeol.  He’s been dreaming about this for months.

The bedroom is worse than the entry way.  Chanyeol half carries half leads him through the house to his bedroom.  The ceilings are high and the bed humongous and there is the biggest flat screen TV that he has ever seen mounted on the wall.  It’s too flashy and Baekhyun didn’t take Chanyeol as the type.

Baekhyun is not afraid to undress, not afraid of what he looks naked.  He’s confident, but the room itself makes him a bit uneasy.  Chanyeol has no qualms about undressing either so Baekhyun throws himself into Chanyeol and forgets.

Subsequently, this happens a lot over the next few months.  They casually get drunk and then pretend they weren’t going to sleep together later that night.  They don’t go to Baekhyun’s and Chanyeol never brings that up.  It’s a win-win situation for Baekhyun.

Baekhyun learns a lot about Chanyeol during the first ten months that they date.  Chanyeol looks great in a suit for work, but immediately changes into sweats when he is anywhere that is not work or a fancy restaurant.  The guy is always ready to laugh and tell a joke.  He cares about people, especially when Baekhyun falls ill for two days and temporarily moves in Chanyeol’s house.

Chanyeol doesn’t care that Baekhyun doesn’t have a lot of money.

 Or that is what Baekhyun tells himself each time Chanyeol takes up the check.  It all seems fine with Chanyeol’s smiles but Baekhyun doesn’t want to take advantage.  He meets Kyungsoo who seems to have Chanyeol’s mindset as well, although being extremely wealthy as well.

It’s the fact that Baekhyun never meets Chanyeol’s family, even though the guy talks about them nonstop.  Or his workmates, even the ones living in this city.  It makes him uneasy but he tries not to focus on that and look at Chanyeol’s other aspects.

One being that Jongdae absolutely adores him as well as Kyungsoo.  The four will sometimes go out and drink and they all have a wonderful time.  None of Baekhyun’s former relationships had even tried to make an effort to befriend Jongdae and didn’t like the boisterous man.  Jongdae only had good things to say about Chanyeol.

Baekhyun loves Chanyeol, he realizes quickly into the relationship.  Naturally, Chanyeol is his dream guy.  He’s everything that Baekhyun could ever dream for.  So Baekhyun tries to drown him in kisses and love and coffee and hopes that it is enough.

It’s not enough.

Baekhyun realized eleven months into their relationship that Chanyeol is lying to his parents and coworkers about what Baekhyun does for a living and how they met.  He says they met at the airport and both were there for business but not anything else. 

Chanyeol says that Baekhyun is just a friend.

Baekhyun wasn’t supposed to hear the call, sleeping in on a lazy Sunday, but he could hear Chanyeol on the balcony from the bed.  He pretends to go back to sleep, pretends he didn’t hear anything.

Everything goes to hell on their anniversary.

Baekhyun wakes up with the smell of breakfast food in the air and there is a smile on his lips as he can almost taste the food.  He’s in his room, though, in his apartment where he lives alone so it must be his neighbors again.  He walks out of his room to head to his bathroom when he notices Chanyeol cooking on his stovetop.

Chanyeol is in Baekhyun’s house.  How did he even get in there?  Baekhyun freaks out.  Nonchalantly, Chanyeol turns around with a smile on his face.  “I was going to cook you breakfast in bed!”

Baekhyun is frozen at the sight of tall, tall Chanyeol in his rundown kitchen.  “Why are you here?”

“Jongdae helped me get a key.”  Chanyeol says as he turns off the stove and goes to wrap his boyfriend’s waist.  “I wanted to cook for you for our anniversary.”

Baekhyun looks up to his boyfriend and _explodes_.  Chanyeol can’t be here.  It’s dirty and messy and cheap!  Baekhyun is _ashamed_.  He yells at Chanyeol, the pent up frustration and uncomfortableness of the last year due to money spilling out of his lips.  He cries.

Chanyeol says nothing.  He pulls Baekhyun in and holds him.  Calming down, Baekhyun apologizes over and over again about how Chanyeol tried to do his best and that he loves him.  He doesn’t realize until he looks up on the thousandth apology that Chanyeol is also crying.

The two kiss and Chanyeol has a hand on the back of Baekhyun’s head and it pushes them together with a bit too much force.  The tall man is grasping his hair and Baekhyun thinks it hurts before Chanyeol is telling him he loves him too.

Baekhyun opens the store that day and he knows Chanyeol went into work because the guy wouldn’t miss work even if he was on fire or dying of plague.  It’s not his day to come to the airport but Kyungsoo does.  He orders coffee before putting down a small article from an economic newspaper.

“He wanted to tell you in person.  I’m sorry.”  Kyungsoo says.  “I don’t think he could.  He loves you but…”

The article is announcing the engagement of a Chanyeol (who is the son of the CEO of the largest insurance company in the country which Baekhyun knew he was a big deal but not _this_ big) to a daughter of a famous lawyer.  Baekhyun stares at the article and at the picture of the girl, utter perfection and the article goes on and on about her accomplishments.  She is gorgeous and beautiful and breathtaking and kind and giving and nice and _wealthy_.

The article is dated from just over a year ago.

Kyungsoo leaves after trailing off and seeing the look on Baekhyun’s face.  Baekhyun sees red and yells.  “Was I just on the side?”

The airport is staring at him and Kyungsoo doesn’t turn around.  He doesn’t need to.

Chanyeol never speaks to him again.

Chanyeol still goes through the airport six times a week and Baekhyun still owns the store at the airport.  Baekhyun is bitter.  He’s tried to corner Chanyeol before but he was making a seen and Chanyeol was able to leave, barely sparing the man a glance.

The part that riles Baekhyun up is not even the fact that Chanyeol was cheating.  It’s been three months and he is over that ( _not really_ ).  It was the fact that Chanyeol never told him in person.  For being as tall as Chanyeol is, he apparently doesn’t seem to have a backbone.

Chanyeol got married ten days after the break up at a gorgeous spring wedding.  Baekhyun scours the economic side of the newspapers to find it.  The girl is stunning.  Baekhyun pales in comparison.

Jongdae, when given the Gate 19, sometimes wants to mess with Chanyeol so badly.  Chanyeol doesn’t acknowledge Jongdae’s existence and bypasses him for another gate agent, rudely.  Kyungsoo is much more civil and acknowledges the blame that is put upon him.

So, petty as it is, Baekhyun just stares Chanyeol down as the man walks to his gate.  He wants revenge but he knows that nothing he would ever do could amount to the pain Chanyeol made him feel.

**Author's Note:**

> I spend a lot of times in airports, too much, really.  
> This fic was supposed to be about money troubles and then evolved into something that I’m not sure I like.  
> Oh well.  
> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
